In mid-June 2025, users across social media platforms like Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and Threads (archived) shared the rumor that the United States allegedly had a soldier stationed on the moon.
The rumor originated with a statement in which Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll purportedly said, "We talked to an astronaut yesterday who's on the moon, who's a soldier."
Some social media users considered Driscoll's statement an exciting new development in the United States space program while others assumed it was simply a case of the secretary misspeaking. Many Snopes readers reached out via email to see if we could verify the claim.
Indeed, the quote about a soldier being stationed on the moon was correctly attributed to Driscoll, who made the comment during a Fox News appearance on June 11, 2025. The segment is available to watch on YouTube (at the 4:00 mark).
Driscoll's remark came in response to a question about the June 14 military parade, when host Brian Kilmeade asked the secretary about allegations that the parade was meant for U.S. President Donald Trump's birthday rather than a celebration of Flag Day and the Army's 250th anniversary.
The exchange began around three minutes into the segment. Driscoll said assertions the parade was celebrating Trump's birthday were "preposterous," adding:
The Army started planning this long in advance because what we believe is this will continue the strength and recruiting and retention that we have as young Americans across the country get to see all of the amazing things that the Army has done, whether it's helping with floods in North Carolina or wildfires in California, or we talked to an astronaut yesterday who's on the moon who's a soldier; including actually going to war and fighting to defend the freedoms that make our nation so great.
We think this is going to be an incredible opportunity for the Army to fill up our pipeline for the years to come and I find it offensive that anybody is challenging that.
Kilmeade offered no follow-up question to Driscoll's comment but it appeared the secretary misspoke. There is no evidence that an astronaut is currently stationed on the moon. NASA's website states that only 12 people have ever walked on the moon, while Royal Museums Greenwich in London notes that trips to the moon concluded in 1972.
However, Driscoll was part of a June 9, 2025, conversation with flight engineer Anne McClain, who is aboard the International Space Station.
According to McClain's biography on the NASA website, she is a U.S. Army colonel and "was selected in June 2013 as one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class." McClain is currently deployed on the ISS as part of NASA Expedition 73, which began on April 19, 2025, and is expected to return in November 2025.
The conversation, which is available to watch on NASA's YouTube page, appeared to be what Driscoll's comment on Fox News was referring to, during which he said "on the moon" instead of, presumably, "in space" or "on the space station."
Snopes reached out to the Army for further clarification on Driscoll's comment. A spokesperson highlighted a post on the secretary's X account featuring the same conversation between Driscoll and McClain, indicating that he slipped up when speaking to Kilmeade.